BBR_NewYork-17

Start: Columbus Circle, at the southwest corner of Central Park

Length: 7.3-mile loop

Approximate riding time: 1.5 hours

Best bike: Road, hybrid, or mountain bike

Terrain and trail surface: The trail is paved throughout and flat.

Traffic and hazards: This ride travels mostly along residential roads with light traffic and avenues with on-road bike lanes. Moderate urban cycling skills are required as this is a city neighborhood. About 0.6 mile of the route—along Broadway, Amsterdam, and Columbus Avenues—have moderate traffic and no bike lanes. Stay especially alert on these stretches.

Things to see: Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Beacon Theater, American Museum of Natural History, Upper West Side Grandes Dames (Apthorp, Ansonia, Dorilton, El Dorado, Beresford, Belleclaire, Dakota, San Remo)

Maps: New York City Bike Map, Landmark West! Map at www.landmarkwest.org

Getting there: By public transportation: Take the A, B, C, or D subway to the 59th Street-Columbus Circle subway stop. GPS coordinates: N40 46.100’ / W73 58.886’

THE RIDE

From Columbus Circle, head north along Central Park West, passing the fifty-two-story Trump Hotel on your left and hugging Central Park on your right. West 71st Street brings you to the Dorilton residences at number 171, completed in 1902 and known for its opulent wrought-iron gateway. Just beyond, the subway house at Broadway and West 72nd Street stems from the same era, as does the Ansonia, 1 block north of here. Occupying an entire city block, the Beaux-Arts–style Ansonia is famous for housing world-class musicians due to its virtually soundproof walls. Opposite the Ansonia, on the east side of Broadway, sits another early-twentieth-century landmark—the Beacon Theater. It’s one of the sole surviving Manhattan movie palaces.

After crossing Broadway you’ll reach the Belleclaire at 250 West 77th Street. This apartment hotel, completed in 1903, was one of the Hungarian-born architect Emery Roth’s earliest New York designs. (He designed most of his New York structures in the 1920s and 1930s.) Then pass the charming West End Collegiate Church at the end of the block to return eastward along West 78th Street. At 2211 Broadway up ahead, another grande dame, the Apthorp apartments, occupy an entire city block.

At the end of the road, cross to the east side of Columbus Avenue to catch the bike lane leading south along the rear of the American Museum of Natural History. This soon brings you to Central Park once more, where the infamous Dakota sits on your left at the corner of West 72nd Street. Completed in 1884, and one of the neighborhood’s oldest grand residences, the building entered popular lore when Beatles star John Lennon was shot outside his home here in 1980.

Heading north along the tree-lined western edge of Central Park, you’ll pass the imposing twenty-seven-story San Remo, a 1930s-era Roth-relic, at West 74th Street. Skirt the edge of the ornate New York Historical Society and American Museum of Natural History on your left before reaching Roth’s Beresford apartments (from 1929) and the storied El Dorado just beyond. West 91st Street then takes you along pleasant residential blocks to Riverside Drive where, at West 89th Street, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument sits high on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River. The benches along the edge are a great spot for a break.

To continue, head eastward along West 90th Street along a string of town houses to Columbus Avenue. Catch the separated bikeway along the avenue’s east edge to go south, passing the American Museum of Natural History once more. A trip to the Upper West Side wouldn’t be complete without a jaunt into Central Park, so enter the park along the park drive at West 77th Street, heading toward the park lake. Stop off if you wish and then veer right when the drive splits, hugging the park’s western edge and going uphill. Strawberry Fields, a living memorial to John Lennon, occupies a 2.5-acre quiet zone at the top of the hill. To explore the area, dismount and access the site on foot. Biking is prohibited. Then remount your bike and continue south to your starting point at Columbus Circle.

MILES AND DIRECTIONS

0.0From Columbus Circle, catch Central Park West, going north along the edge of the park.

0.6Turn left onto West 71st Street.

0.9Turn right onto Amsterdam Avenue.

1.0Turn left onto West 73rd Street, followed by a quick right onto Broadway.

1.2Turn left onto West 77th Street, followed by a right onto West End Avenue.

1.3Turn right onto West 78th Street.

1.7Turn right onto Columbus Avenue.

2.0Turn left onto West 72nd Street.

2.2 Turn left onto Central Park West.

3.3Turn left onto West 91st Street.

3.7Turn right onto West End Avenue, followed by a left onto West 93rd Street.

3.9 Turn right onto Riverside Drive.

4.0Turn sharply left at West 95th Street, making a U-turn to head south on Riverside Drive.

4.3The Soldiers and Sailors Monument is on your right at West 89th Street.

4.4Turn left onto West 88th Street.

4.5Turn left onto West End Avenue.

4.6Turn right onto West 90th Street.

4.9Turn right onto Columbus Avenue.

5.6Turn left onto West 77th Street.

5.8Enter Central Park straight ahead along the drive.

6.0Veer right to go uphill.

6.1Strawberry Fields is on your left.

6.2 Exit Central Park to turn left onto Central Park West, heading south.

6.5Turn right onto West 63rd Street.

6.7Turn left onto Columbus Avenue, hugging its east edge.

7.0Turn left onto West 58th Street.

7.1Turn left onto 8th Avenue to enter Columbus Circle. To get to your starting point on the other side, you might want to use the pedestrian crosswalks to cross 8th Avenue, Broadway, and then Central Park South.

7.3Arrive at your starting point.

RIDE INFORMATION

Restrooms

Start/end: There are restrooms and water fountains in Heckscher Playground at the southwest corner of Central Park. Walk your bike from Columbus Circle along the footpath northeastward into Central Park.